The Proposal
by Sacagawea
Summary: On the night of the Yule Ball, Hermione Granger made a proposal. That Draco Malfoy accepted. It was the night of a miracle.


Disclaimer: The name of the author of Harry Potter is J.K. Rowling. That is not my name. Therefore, I own nothing.

A/N: Just an idea I had. Some fluff, but not much. It's different from the stories I usually write, but hopefully you guys still like it.

**The Proposal**

_In the depths of the night_

_Under the stars they stood_

_I never said they shared a kiss_

_But maybe, perhaps_

_They would_

Fourteen-year-old Hermione Granger looked out at the stars, hating them all for being so beautiful. She wondered if stars were ever deserted by their dates. She wondered if stars even had dates. She bet anything they never felt this miserable.

She tried to look on the bright side of things. It wasn't as if she was in love with the guy. Krum was sweet and everything, but seriously, he couldn't even pronounce her _name_. You could not build a relationship off of that.

'_Still,_' she thought sadly, '_I wish he wouldn't have gone._'

Normally, she probably would have been understanding. She would practically push him out the door. But not tonight. Did his stupid headmaster have to drag him away TONIGHT?!? She had put on makeup. She put on jewelery. SHE HAD MADE HER HAIR STRAIGHT FOR HIM, DAMMIT!!!

"Well, well, well, who do we have here? Your date leave you for someone else already, Granger? I knew it wouldn't last."

Hermione spun around to see none other than Draco Malfoy appear on the balcony. At the sight of him, her anger grew even more. That horrible little...

No. Her night was already messed up enough without him having to be here. She would not let him win. And answering would only mean playing right into his hands. That's exactly what he wanted. For once in his life, he was not going to get something he wanted.

So instead of shouting an insult back, she just turned back around to face the stars. '_Just pretend he's not there Hermione. Then he will go away. So you can be left alone with the stars. Then you can finally have what you want._' she told herself sternly, chewing her bottom lip.

To her surprise, Malfoy was suddenly standing next to her. "Why aren't you answering?" he asked softly, cocking his head to the side in utter confusion. For a moment it seemed as if he were concerned, but she found that this was incredibly hard to believe. It was probably just another cruel joke, and she wanted to be left alone anyway.

So she continued to stare at the night sky. "Because I do not want my night to be worse than it already is. Sod off." Why couldn't he just GO AWAY?!?

He smirked. "You always tell me to sod off. Can't you be more creative?" he still made no attempt to leave.

"Okay. How about sod off NOW? That more creative for you Malfoy?" she sneered sarcastically.

"Nope. Try again."

Hermione screamed, shattering the silence.

"What was THAT?!?" Malfoy demanded, picking himself up off the ground. He had fallen over in his shock at the shout.

She was breathing hard. "I can't take it anymore. I want you to....leave me alone. To just go away." Actually, she wasn't entirely sure why she had screamed either, but the anger she had been feeling at the moment now seemed somewhat relieved. It was a rather stupid action really. But it worked.

"So Granger's going crazy then? Ooooh, this can't be good, we might have to send you to Saint Mungo's. Don't worry, I'll write to you. Send you curses and hexes that'll make you choke to dea-"

Without warning, she turned sharply to face him, and began talking. She yet again had no idea what she was doing.

"Malfoy." She heard herself start slowly. "I have a proposal for you. This may sound crazy, but I at least need to try.

"We are enemies. We hate each other. But you will not go, nor leave me alone. And in case you haven't noticed, everyone else is inside having a wonderful time." She motioned to the ballroom, which was full of joy and laughter.

"So my proposal is this: Just for this one night, that we be friends. I don't insult you, you don't insult me. Because I truly think both of us need to take a break. There will never be another Yule Ball, and there will never be another time when I'll be willing to make this sort of deal with you." Her hand was stuck out toward him, waiting for his.

There was a moment of hesitation, and Hermione thought it was going to last forever. Maybe it was a stupid idea after all. She then felt someone clasping her hand, shaking it up and down, to close the deal.

She looked up at him, but he was doing everything to avoid eye contact. Finally, she gave up and turned towards the outside. He did the same.

"If we're going to be friends, we have to at least say one nice thing about each other." He said unexpectedly, not really as a demand, but more as an observation. Most likely he just wanted to hear something good about himself. Maybe his day hadn't been going so well either.

She shrugged. What would it hurt?

"Fine. But you go first."

Malfoy thought for a moment, then spoke. "Your robe compliments your eyes."

"My eyes are brown."

"I said _compliments_, not _matches,_" he shot back.

She supposed he had a point. She already knew what she was going to say, but paused anyway.

"I think," she said, tracing one of the serpents on the sleeve of his velvet robe with her finger, "That snakes are rather clever."

He seemed confused. "How is that complimenting m-" He stopped. "Oh."

There was another silence. "Why can't you be more direct?"

She saw her chance and looked right into his eyes. "Because being direct is not something I do."

Malfoy froze up when she looked at him. He held her gaze for a moment, but then his eyes turned back towards the sky. Hermione sighed. What was with these eye contact problems?

"What happened to Krum?" She heard a little bit of the non-friend Malfoy in his tone.

"What happened to Parkinson?" She hissed back.

Sadly the question didn't make him uncomfortable. "She got to the food."

She supposed this meant she was going to have to answer as well. Then again, it wasn't anything to be embarrassed about. Of course it wasn't. Her date was just extremely important. Where was the shame in that? "He got called away by his Headmaster to discuss the tournament. Very important business." She responded airily.

"So in other words we both got ditched?" He answered, head in his hands.

She suddenly felt deflated again. "Yeah."

From inside, they heard a waltz start up. Malfoy lifted his head and looked at her. "Would you...care to dance?" She didn't know if she was imagining it or if he looked a little shy about it. A warmth filled her. That was almost cute.

Hermione smiled at him. "Of course."

He stepped forward, placing one hand on her waist, and putting her hand in his own.. She set her hand on his shoulder and slowly but surely, the two began to dance. They glided back and forth across the balcony, swaying at a pace of their own, not paying attention to what was going on inside.

"So," she started while they danced, "Who do you think will win the tournament?" She knew that this probably would get another fight started, but decided to take a shot at it anyway.

He looked back and forth to make sure no one was listening. "Well, despite what I've been going around saying," he then brought his voice down to a whisper, "_Potter_."

Her eyes grew wide. "Really?"

He sighed. "Yes really. I mean, he's Potter. He always does everything. He always does everything _right_. He always wins. And I don't think even a world class Quidditch star is going to stop him." He gave a significant look at Hermione as he said the last part.

"Hey," she warned, becoming irritated, "Just because I went to the ball with Viktor doesn't mean I'm not supporting Harry. I don't even like Krum." Realizing what she said, she added, "I mean as more than a friend."

She could tell was doing everything in his power not to burst out laughing. "Alright."

Her grip tightened on his shoulder. "I'm serious." The corners of her mouth twitched.

He grinned. "What, what did I say? I said alright, doesn't that mean I agree with you?"

A small giggle escaped her. "Not the way you're saying it."

Letting go of her waist, Malfoy twirled her a couple of times, very swiftly and gracefully. She wondered how he had gotten to be such a good dancer. "How am I saying it?" he asked, pulling her closer as they quickened the steps.

"Like you don't believe me."

"And I should believe you why?"

"Because I'm trying to be a good liar here. Don't be so hard on me. Were supposed to be friends right now, remember?" Suddenly, he dipped her low, and her head almost touched the ground. Upon coming back up, she raised her eyebrows. "I don't remember _that_ being part of the waltz."

He merely shrugged. "It seemed to fit."

They danced for a while without speaking, sometimes moving so fast they were a blur, other times barely moving at all. Words didn't seem to be necessary at the moment. Actually, Hermione was pretty sure that they both were worried that if they made a sound it would ruin everything.

"I have a question." He said thoughtfully, his gaze zooming right over her head.

She waited.

"Is it just me, or does Pansy look like a pug?"

She couldn't hide it. Hermione threw her head back and laughed.

"What?" he said, springing back from her. "What's funny?"

"Nothing." She giggled, grabbing him and putting his hand back on her waist. "Keep dancing." She ordered.

"Why? And again, what was funny?"

"It was just funny. You don't know how many people go around saying that everyday. And you _asked_ me about it. That's really Slytherin of you." She wasn't about to tell him why she wanted him to keep dancing though. She couldn't quite explain it herself, and didn't want to.

"No. If I were being Slytherin about it then I would probably _make_ you agree with me about her being a pug. But, of course, since you're a Gryffindor you would heroically declare it, but announce rather arrogantly that it's not because I told you to say it." He said, throwing her a sarcastic grin.

She glared. Ugh, that just made her forget every nice thing he had just done.

"You know, we're not that different. Gryffindors and Slytherins I mean. We both speak our minds and never take no for an answer. We're both strong fighters." He cupped her chin in his hand, turning her towards him. "Our only real difference is that Slytherins have a bad reputation. And don't act like you don't know it Hermione."

She looked up at him and saw that his features were full of determination, as if his mission was to make her believe it. But she did believe it. It only took her until now to realize that.

Because he called her Hermione. That was the only proof she needed.

"I know that." She admitted breathlessly.

In response, he dipped her again.

"It seemed to fit?" she questioned, knowing that she looked very amused.

He nodded. "It seemed to fit."

And so they danced, whirling across the balcony, knowing that only for tonight the walls could be brought down. Tomorrow they would have to go back to being enemies, hating each other until they could hate no more. They knew that this was one one time, and that never again could they simply compliment each other on their dress robes, or cleverness. Finally, at the end of the night, she asked the question that she had been trying to hold back for a while.

"Malfoy?" she said quietly, after they had finished dancing and were now looking out at the stars again.

"Hmm?"

"You're not going to...kiss me, are you?"

He seemed shocked at the very idea. "Of course not! I mean if you - Do you- Why do you ask?" He said finally, becoming uncharacteristically pink in the face.

She let out a long breath. "Because," she grinned sheepishly at him, "If you wanted to, I don't think I could do anything to stop you but the thing is...I don't particually want to kiss you."

"Well I don't particually want to kiss you either." He answered, grinning as well.

Strangely, this didn't offend either of them. Any other time it probably would have. At any other time they would be dueling over a comment even close to this.

But this wasn't any other night. It was the night of the Yule Ball. This night was special.

It was the night where enemies became friends, the hard heart became soft, and the joyless became joyful.

It was the night when Hermione Granger would make a proposal. That Draco Malfoy would accept.

It was the night of a miracle.

_In the depths of the night_

_Under the stars they stood_

_I never said they shared a kiss_

_But maybe, perhaps_

_They could_


End file.
